By Whskyjack, a Trail Mix Contributor
For what? You ask? For Trump burnout, I think me and possibly half of America are just tired of it. We are tired of his stupid tweets, his insults to our allies, his idiotic staff and Republicans trying to cover for him.
But we are also tired of all the over-the-top obsession by the media. The over-the-top reactions by liberal activists and facebook fanatics to every little rumor, slight and piece of crap uttered by some back water Republican
Really, enough already, where are the adults?
But I think I found a cure. True, it’s one of those sappy ideas that reminds you of 50’s TV.
Go out in the garden pick a hand full of strawberries and put them on a bowl of oat meal.
Then step out in the morning sun and enjoy the lilies
Or do as I did this weekend, hang around some young people. My niece’s oldest boy graduated from high school (my how fast they grow up) and the family all gathered to celebrate. There is a cluster of cousins about the same age, some younger, some older. What a marvelous group of energetic dynamic young folks. All with drive and determination, from the students to my niece, a recent college grad who is legally blind and planning to start her own business.
From what I saw our future is in good hands.
Now if we can just … never mind.
I think I’m going to go back outside and look at the lilies. They are gorgeous!
Jack
More Posts by Whskyjack
amen, jack & marcus t., amen
in re Portland up-coming protests: the silent presence of native American tribes in that locale facing down the white supremacists with their “go home” signs would make some great photo ops.
as they say, that picture would be worth a thousand words (and silly chants)
Great idea Jack. I’ve got Northwest Trek, a movie, and a charity wine tasting on the calendar. Sanity will intrude into politics.
Jamie, oh how I wish sanity would intrude politics
For me it’s summer reading time. Plus weaving whenever the desire strikes me. And of course summer is watching baseball time.
I’m at the point where I scroll by most trump stuff on Facebook. And though I try to participate here…. sometimes it’s just crap that comes off the top of my head so I can say I’m still here.
We do have a family wedding this Saturday (our niece). Then Sunday we leave for a week on Cape Cod. Going to take the ferry out to Martha’s Vineyard to spend a day with OldSeaHag and Finn.
Enjoy your flowers, Jack!
some sci and sci-fi other worldly news from wapo’s “This millionaire has a promising idea for space exploration. But he says aliens are already here.”
[….]
Whether people believe his claims doesn’t really matter. He’s used his own money — some $290 million, he told “60 Minutes” — to form a company with a stylized alien logo to send things into space.
Last May, astronauts pumped up the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, a $17.8 million inflatable space beach ball that Bigelow hopes will be the future of space exploration.
If it can survive the rigors of space, the modules could serve as work spaces, labs and living quarters that are much wider than the narrow tube of a space shuttle.
The module was launched in 2016 and will be attached to the International Space Station for another year as NASA scientists test radiation levels and structural integrity.
As “60 Minutes” reported: “With no formal training in science or engineering, Robert Bigelow created an aerospace company with scientists and engineers that’s achieved what no one else in the industry has done. His expandable spacecraft are the first and only alternative to the metal structures that have housed every astronaut in space for over half a century.”
Published on May 30, 2017
Robert Bigelow goes on the record to say that it is not necessary to leave the Earth to find alien life. It is already here interacting with our species.
oops, forgot to give you the wapo link for above
Casablanca 2017.
always fascinating to hear from our former kgb bud barsky. specially starting at 5:40 when he opines
“we’re blowing this a little bit out of proportion…what they’re trying to do is here to create chaos to the extent possible and we’re helping a great deal by acting the way we are….”
https://youtu.be/fJt3cue89p0
Published on May 27, 2017
Ex-KGB Spy Jack Barsky Appalled Over Reports Jared Kushner Asked Russian Envoy for Backchannel
It is raining this morning so the day full of work gets pushed back to tomorrow.
OK one Trump observation(my name is Jack I’m an addict ) It is all Corey’s fault!
Remember if you are on the outs in Trump land you get your side of the story out to the media. Cause Trump actually watches this cable TV crap, Given the leak leak leak on this story I wonder if the Pro climate change folks don’t have the upper hand.
Jack
Published on May 31, 2017
Sam sits down with the man who had a front-row seat for the Nixon administration’s downfall and asks, “Who’s the John Dean of Trump?” Also, did you know if you say “John Dean” three times Dick Cavett just shows up?
patd, you elevated my spirits a bit with your 25th Amendment tease yesterday. Thanks – always good for a chuckle – I guess the WH strategy is to claim a few people know what covfefe means, so it wasn’t another example of trump’s misfiring neurons.
Not as attractive as Lilies, but why not indulge Joe as a distraction for now:
NYT: Biden to Create a Political Action Committee, a Possible Signal for 2020
pogo, I think sturge’s contribution above in the wee small hours is also worthy of kudos
patd, true. Sturge, great catch.
Fifty years ago, I was a suburban dwelling wife with two children under five when the pot smoking, macrobiotic eating brother-in-law dropped by on his way to San Francisco. These sounds entered the house with him. To this day everybody still loves Uncle Gary and the Beatles. Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band at 50: Still Full of Joy and Whimsey
Jamie,
On May 18 Sirius XM started a Beatles channel – It is absolutely wonderful for a 53 year Beatle fan like me. I listen to it most of the time I’m in the car now – and traveling is much more pleasant as a result.
Oh, Pogo, 53-yo kid. Drive safely, be home by 2300, and don’t do anything that I wouldn’t do. And tune the radio back to NPR. Big sigh.
I have never gone to Trump’s Tweet place. I very rarely use Facebook. I discuss politics almost exclusively here; if the reasons aren’t obvious, then y’all sell yourselves short.
Does this mean we are all invited to Jack’s for breakfast. I have to say not a fan of oatmeal
go Warriors
KGC… great idea…. let’s all go to Jack’s for breakfast. I’ll bring the eggs.
Pogo… I’ve been listening to that Beatles channel on Sirius also. I found out about it while listening to the 60s oldies.
Yup… I’m old… and proud of it 🙂
Ahhh the Beatles –I’m old….really old compared to Pogo
If Pussy G is announcing Climate Change is a hoax –it would be cool if all the roses in the Rose Garden wilted.
I was going to say that all his waterfront properties will be toast if he doesn’t sign. Wrong metaphor
all this hooha over will he or won’t he – whether it’s pulling out of paris deal or moving embassy to Jerusalem or dissing nato allies – is his way of yelling “squirrel” and throwing fresh meat to distract the media from the drip drip drip and the Damocles sword swish swish of the Russia trump collusion investigation (and the inevitable look at his finances). he’ll do anything and say anything outrageous to keep us from focusing on it. here’s another drip and swish of the sword from
the guardian: Nigel Farage is ‘person of interest’ in FBI investigation into Trump and Russia
[….]
Farage has not been accused of wrongdoing and is not a suspect or a target of the US investigation. But being a person of interest means investigators believe he may have information about the acts that are under investigation and he may therefore be subject to their scrutiny.
Sources who spoke to the Guardian said it was Farage’s proximity to people at the heart of the investigation that was being examined as an element in their broader inquiry into how Russia may have worked with Trump campaign officials to influence the US election.
“One of the things the intelligence investigators have been looking at is points of contact and persons involved,” one source said. “If you triangulate Russia, WikiLeaks, Assange and Trump associates the person who comes up with the most hits is Nigel Farage.
“He’s right in the middle of these relationships. He turns up over and over again. There’s a lot of attention being paid to him.”
The source mentioned Farage’s links with Roger Stone, Trump’s long-time political adviser who has admitted being in contact with Guccifer 2.0, a hacker whom US intelligence agencies believe to be a Kremlin agent.
flatus, toast is accurate description if you mean an ocean-flavored rarebit recipe. yep in 30 yrs or so trump family will be boating to their residence in trump tower, suffer big water hazards at the NJ golf club, and have to deep dive to enjoy drinks in the underwater bar at mal-an-ego. but likely he won’t be there to see it so why should he worry?
Flatus, KGC – I ain’t a 53 year old Beatles fan – I’ve been a Beatles fan for 53 years. (Please pardon the lack of clarity) God I wish I were a 53 year old Beatles fan – but then I wouldn’t qualify for Medicare.
Patd, the question when the waters rise at Mar-a-Lago will be whether the moat around the place is the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico – the waters of the two will be intermixing somewhere in the Everglades by then – so smartmoney’s on the Atlantic.
And KC, go Cavs.
from CNN “Sources: Congress investigating another possible Sessions-Kislyak meeting”
Congressional investigators are examining whether Attorney General Jeff Sessions had an additional private meeting with Russia’s ambassador during the presidential campaign, according to Republican and Democratic Hill sources and intelligence officials briefed on the investigation.
Investigators on the Hill are requesting additional information, including schedules from Sessions, a source with knowledge tells CNN. They are focusing on whether such a meeting took place April 27, 2016, at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC, where then-candidate Donald Trump was delivering his first major foreign policy address. Prior to the speech, then-Sen. Sessions and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak attended a small VIP reception with organizers, diplomats and others.
In addition to congressional investigators, the FBI is seeking to determine the extent of interactions the Trump campaign team may have had with Russia’s ambassador during the event as part of its broader counterintelligence investigation of Russian interference in the election.
The FBI is looking into whether there was an additional private meeting at the Mayflower the same day, sources said. Neither Hill nor FBI investigators have yet concluded whether a private meeting took place — and acknowledge that it is possible any additional meeting was incidental
and from abc news: Democratic senators asked FBI to investigate Jeff Sessions for perjury
KGC
Well there is the Mar-A-Lago sinkhole. The comments make the article worthwhile.
If such an incidental meeting occurred, Sessions just happened to be at the Mayflower (for a small VIP reception prior to drumpf’s foreign policy speech?) and just incidentally ran into Kislyak? Wow, what a coincidence!!
(Now I’m sitting here imagining being 53 again)
White House eyes Bannon ally for top broadcasting post – POLITICO
https://apple.news/AMNhyBKd8Rbu-bhLwFneZZA
“Pack, a former Corporation for Public Broadcasting executive, and Bannon are mutual admirers and worked on two documentaries together.”
“Should he be appointed by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate, Pack would be the first CEO of the BBG without a board as a firewall because of a little-noticed provision in last December’s National Defense Authorization Act…”
“The White House could theoretically use the BBG for any kind of messaging,” one senior government official with direct knowledge of the situation said. “People are generally worried about what might happen next because it would change the nature of BBG from having a CEO and a board and a track record for protecting independence.”
So, early on I heard some reporting that PussyG introduced Flynn to the Russians is that true?
Ok Pogo
we can still speak ..I’m not that much older than you
This is how I feel when I think of our ridiculous, infant covfefe prez..
Don’t think oatmeal will cure me though 😉
Gunmen open fire, start blaze at Resorts World Manila in the Philippines: Police
Well., since el idioto in chief plans to pull the us out of the Paris accord, I better look at visiting again. I kinda like Paris.
from scientific American back in November:
How quickly could Trump exit?
The international law requirements are somewhat complicated. One of the reasons Obama helped usher the deal into force early this year is because that meant that any country that was a party to the agreement couldn’t leave until it completed a four-year withdrawal process.
Michael Wara, an environmental law professor at the Stanford Law School, said Trump could use his office to issue an executive communication removing the United States from Paris, but even if he did that, the United States would still be a party for four years and could be subject to its legally binding procedural commitments.
If the United States failed to meet its obligations, which are being negotiated starting now at the U.N. climate conference underway in Marrakech, Morocco, it would be breaking international law.
The United States could take a shortcut and exit the UNFCCC, a move that could be likely, given Trump’s criticisms of the U.N. body. That could be done in one year rather than four, and would result in leaving Paris, as well. Or Trump’s administration could send observers to monitor negotiations but not participate in them and refuse to carry through on Obama’s nationally determined contribution pledge to cut carbon dioxide emissions 26 to 28 percent compared with 2005 levels by 2025.
The United States is poised to miss that target anyway without additional action, which will be a hard sell now that Republicans are in control of the legislative and executive branches of the federal government.
[….continues on….]
politico:
Former President Barack Obama criticized President Donald Trump for announcing on Thursday that the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, characterizing the decision as America vacating its leadership role on the world stage.
Obama, who has refrained from commenting on his successor’s every action in office, did not name Trump in his statement, but nonetheless made clear that he believes Trump’s plan to exit the 2015 agreement will hurt America, economically and otherwise.
“The nations that remain in the Paris Agreement will be the nations that reap the benefits in jobs and industries created,” Obama said. “I believe the United States of America should be at the front of the pack. But even in the absence of American leadership; even as this Administration joins a small handful of nations that reject the future; I’m confident that our states, cities, and businesses will step up and do even more to lead the way, and help protect for future generations the one planet we’ve got.”
Describing the accord as “the first-ever global agreement to set the world on a low-carbon course and protect the world we leave to our children,” Obama said it was only possible thanks to “steady, principled American leadership on the world stage.”
What does Trump’s Paris climate decision mean? – POLITICO
https://apple.news/AxV8njTlBSlW23ed989WYzw
“…Trump announced Thursday that he will formally withdraw the United States from the Paris climate change agreement.
While the process will take several years to complete…”
Maybe we will be under a new administration in 3.5 years and we can hokey-pokey ourselves back in where we belong. That’s what it’s all about.
bbc: US quits Paris climate pact
Reaction from around the world following the US president’s decision on the Paris accord
[….]
Musk heads into the dusk
Posted at 16:41
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has followed through on his threat to stop advising Trump if the White House withdrew from the Paris accord.
@elonmusk
Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world.
Under Paris deal, China committed to produce as much clean electricity by 2030 as the US does from all sources today
I guess I’m the 53 year old Beatles fan in the group. Turned 53 in April. Been a Beatles fan since the early 70s when I “discovered” them.
I took a bunch of time away from politics over the last few weeks to celebrate my niece’s graduation from high school. Good grief! She’s 17 years old and getting ready to start the next phase of her education at Santa Barbara Community College, with plans to transfer to a university as soon as she figures out what to study and how much it’s going to cost to study it. For now, it’s the old undeclared GenEd route.
BTW – Time away from politics is much recommended. I came back this week to the guffaw-inducing Covfefe business. If I take more time away, maybe I’ll come back to something even more hilarious.
BTW2 – How do you pronounce that? I’m thinking cove-fee-fee, or perhaps cuv-fee-fee. Swallow, put down your drink, and say either one out loud. The belly laugh is worth it, as are the ongoing snickers and giggles.
There’s a new home improvement store here (Treehouse) that produces more energy than it uses.
Trump can pull out of the agreement, but he can’t stop the eco-friendly business train.
Got tired of the Beatles in the 60’s when an hour on top 40 radio was three or five Beatles songs, two or three Elvis songs, one or two Sinatra, Bennett, or Dean Martin songs, and three or five more Beatles songs. Got to the point I can’t stand the Beatles at all. Only one or two Elvis songs are good, Men in Black II has one of the good ones. Sinatra, only on 78’s. Dean Martin only when I – nah no more. Tony Bennett, occasionally, but nothing after he turned seventy.
I do like the Kinks. Great stuff. Stones are a good group. Other British bands are a mix. A few German groups, but like any others from Europe, you never hear them in the states.
One of the great things of the Internet is the ability to listen to music from other countries. I got a friend to enjoy the music of a Netherlands group, Caro Emerald – Good stuff there!
As one who has no rhythm gene in my gene pool and no ability to sing, I live vicariously through others who can. And, all they have to do is have some ability to make music. So I look through the World for music, and enjoy what I cannot produce. Truth – I cannot clap in rhythm.
Mark Cuban urges Democrats to push Trump on Paris – CNN Money
https://apple.news/AuykwIPLlSu2vKripkXZiMA
“If Dems are smart, they should call for immediate meetings w POTUS to determine how to get back in the Paris Agreement,” Cuban tweeted. “Call his bluff. Put him on the spot. Make him respond and commit to terms. He opened the door. Fix rather than bitch.”
He further advised politicians to “propose a deal that protects our environment, economy and jobs and gives us flexibility.”
In a series of tweets, Cuban said Democrats should “make [Trump] respond point by point” and force him to “be transparent.”
The Beatles were a sort of “perfect storm” in the recorded music world……Every release took them to a notch above all the rest…..it was a curious admixture of the times, the recording and musical genius of George Martin, the combined pop genius of Lennon and Mac, George and Ringo no slouches, they…….the scene was set by Frankie, then Elvis, and then the rock and roll world experienced a true wonderment in those guys.
Their recordings will be studied and disected for as long as there are universities.
and meanwhile, the music is as close as the nearest CD player, or computer………still a wonderment……
a nice one……..the trumpet player got credit on the album…..very rare for them….
Sturg… thanks! Penny Lane is my favorite Beatles tune.
So trump has told the planet to drop dead… the planet should yell back… “you first”…
So – today was my last day with classes. 2 finals in High School PreAP World Geography. Kids were relatively great – bouncing off the walls to end the half day. We gave them food and popsicles at the end of the day. Gave one of my kids a pair of reading glasses for her English final, lots of hugs and talks about what everyone will do over the summer, etc. Grades are done, 7 kids recovered their credit from first semester, only about 8 failed this semester (and they deserved to), room is clean and packed, books are turned in, everything checked in (28 initials required on the check-out list), keys and badges (tomorrow). And now it will take me about 2 weeks to come down off the ceiling after the past 9 months. I sure hope the regular people out there appreciate what public school teachers do during the year. It’s a journey of love and frustration and small accomplishments and wins and growth and frustration and everything else. This is the most difficult job that I have ever had, and it carries some of the most rewarding and heart touching (and wrenching) experiences that a person could go through (as well as the most frustrating moments).
And on top of this, one of my red-neck students decided to wear a t-shirt that talked about the fact that Donald Trump has “True-Balls”.
Geezus!
I never understood how Obama could legally do the Paris Accord without Congress. Not doing so made it easier for Trump to undo it.
Craig, is an accord a treaty? Should it be?
I dunno Dvitale, the Constitution doesn’t mention anything about an “accord” whatever that is. Me thinks using a different word doesn’t void the requirement for Senate consent if it binds us to such serious commitments.
as pointed out over and over, countries in the accord came up with their own set of goals which they could alter. it is voluntary not mandatory. ergo no treaty just aspirational agreement hoping to do something however small step it would be.